In modern motor vehicles, provisions for stowing, charging, and/or using nomadic devices (e.g., portable consumer electronic devices, such as, for example, “smart” phones, tablets, digital music storage/player devices, hand-held navigation systems, and the like) are being provided with increasingly frequency. Often such provisions are arranged in the vehicle interior, and particularly in the area of the dashboard or instrument panel, and can include a mechanical support to hold such portable electronic devices in a “hand-free” manner.
In one example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,807,621 issued to Stephan, a docking station for a portable electronic device such as a smart phone or a navigation device is provided as part of a storage compartment on an upper portion of an instrument panel. The docking station includes a device holder for securely retaining a mobile electronic device in an access position where it can be conveniently viewed and/or operated by vehicle occupants. A hardwired electronic communication interface or electrical connection may be provided between the mobile device in the vehicle by a cable or a direct plug-in connection. Unfortunately, further improvements in such provisions for nomadic devices are desirable such as the ability to detect the presence of one or more portable electronic devices in the docking station and whether or not the device(s) is properly positioned in the docking station, the ability to provide a user input to the device(s) and/or the interior trim apparatus, and/or the ability to provide wireless charging to the device(s) optimize, for example, based on the device's position in the docking station.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide interior trim apparatuses for motor vehicles with improved provisions for nomadic devices. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present disclosure will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.